Commercial and military aircraft are commonly equipped with emergency oxygen systems designed to protect users from hazards associated with hypoxia, in case of sudden decompression, typically at altitudes greater than 10,000 feet. Such emergency oxygen systems typically include an emergency oxygen container having a source of supplemental oxygen, and one or oxygen masks for users to receive a flow of supplemental oxygen until the aircraft has descended to a low enough altitude where the supplemental oxygen is not needed.
Conventional oxygen generator and mask systems can be tested by fully deploying the oxygen masks, requiring tedious restowing of the oxygen masks, which can lead to improper packing and improper deployment. Current designs for latching and releasing an emergency oxygen container door have been found to suffer from problems of accidental release, leaks, and binding, from effects of external fluids, effects of poor mask packing on latch reliability, and frequently do not allow for routinization or automation of maintenance checks.
It would be desirable to provide an improved latch for a door of an emergency oxygen container that allows testing for proper functionality without actual full deployment of oxygen masks. It would be desirable to provide an improved latch for a door of an emergency oxygen container that allows for routinization or automation of maintenance checks. The present invention meets these and other needs.